Published: Thursday, June 13, 2013 at 5:21 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, June 13, 2013 at 5:21 p.m.

North Davidson High School graduate John Garduno sits on the seniors' rock in back of the school. Garduno plans to study sports medicine at Appalachian State University.

Donnie Roberts/The Dispatch

WELCOME | Don't mistake John Garduno's determination. He's proven his work ethic time and time over to his peers and teachers.

The 19-year-old has overcome odds on multiple occasions not only to be a stellar athlete on the football field but an impressive student in the classroom at North Davidson High School. He'll graduate Saturday at St. Peter's Church and World Outreach Center in Winston-Salem with a 4.6 weighted GPA and will become the first in his family not only to graduate from high school but attend college.

“He definitely stands out among his class with his character and his perseverance,” said Stefanie Jones, guidance counselor at NDHS. “… He went through some hardships.”

Garduno's desire to succeed would be evident early in his high school years. He acknowledges a big part of his drive came from his mother leaving him early in his childhood. He was raised by his father, Julio Solano, and his grandmother, Margarita Solano.

Many at NDHS were impressed when they learned Garduno jogged about five miles to and from his home on Arnold Road to attend summer workouts for football as a freshman. That's because he didn't have a ride to the school since his dad had to be at work early in the morning.

“I started thinking why feel sorry for myself because I don't have a ride,” he recalled. “There is no point in that. I just decided that if I really was determined to be here I would be here.”

As Garduno would do what he now calls a “pre-workout” to NDHS, he thought of the person he wanted to be and how he saw himself in the future. About a month into summer workouts, Keena Arrowood, a Spanish teacher at the high school, discovered Garduno's method in going to and from the school. She and others began giving him rides to the workouts.

“I can't say I had money to give them for gas, but I really appreciated them taking me home,” he said.

Once Garduno arrived at the workouts, he remembers being “determined to train to be just as good as anyone else,” he said.

“I didn't care if people saw me run or not,” Garduno said. “I wasn't embarrassed to be running by McDonald's watching people go by. I had a mind-set goal that I was going to get here in time. I was going to work out, and I was going to go home. It was just something I looked forward to every time. I got up (earlier) than I normally would and started heading down the road.”

His desire not to let anything get in his way from attending the workouts would come to the attention of his coaches.

“They are like, ‘Wow, you had the endurance to do that,'” Garduno remembered. “It's like I didn't want any attention from it. It's just something I wanted to do for myself.”

And Garduno's work ethic earned him a spot on the varsity team as a sophomore. The strong safety/inside linebacker was named on the all-Central Piedmont Conference football team, and he landed a part-time job in Lexington to help fix his uncle's car to be able to drive himself his junior year to summer workouts and practice.

“I realized that there would be kids who didn't have a ride, and I would take them home because I knew the feeling and knew what I had to go through,” he said. “… I didn't want any other teammate of mine to do that, so I would be generous and give them a ride.”

But his football career was sidelined his senior year. Garduno broke his right ankle during the second practice of the 2012 season. He recalled going up to intercept a pass, and a teammate shoved him to stop the interception. Garduno landed with his toes down, and his whole ankle turned behind him.

“The injury itself didn't hurt me,” he said. “Knowing I wasn't going to be able to play football my senior year is really what killed me inside. When my doctor told me, ‘You are going to have surgery and this might be it for you,' I busted out in tears and couldn't hold it back.”

Garduno used a stretching band to try to get the ankle better as he was trying to rejoin the team his senior year. He battled back to be at about 80 percent when he got in for the last two plays of the season-ending playoff game.

“It was probably the toughest thing I had these past four years,” Garduno said, referring to being sidelined by his injury. “I coped with it with my teammates. When we won the CPC championship, they picked me up on (their) shoulders and told me they did it for me.”

Garduno plans to major in sports science and wants to be a physical therapist at Appalachian State University.

“I actually decided to do that this past year with my ankle injury that took me out the whole season,” he said of his desire to be a physical therapist. “It's just something I got really interested in.”

To Garduno's surprise, faculty at NDHS presented him with a Citizenship Award at senior awards day. The award recognized Garduno's desire to help people. He said he “felt honored everyone thinks so highly of him.”

Darrick Ignasiak can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 217, or at darrick.ignasiak@the-dispatch.com.

<p><i>This is the 13th in a series of 14 stories profiling a student from Davidson County's public, private and home schools.</i></p><p>WELCOME | Don't mistake John Garduno's determination. He's proven his work ethic time and time over to his peers and teachers.</p><p>The 19-year-old has overcome odds on multiple occasions not only to be a stellar athlete on the football field but an impressive student in the classroom at North Davidson High School. He'll graduate Saturday at St. Peter's Church and World Outreach Center in Winston-Salem with a 4.6 weighted GPA and will become the first in his family not only to graduate from high school but attend college.</p><p>“He definitely stands out among his class with his character and his perseverance,” said Stefanie Jones, guidance counselor at NDHS. “… He went through some hardships.”</p><p>Garduno's desire to succeed would be evident early in his high school years. He acknowledges a big part of his drive came from his mother leaving him early in his childhood. He was raised by his father, Julio Solano, and his grandmother, Margarita Solano.</p><p>Many at NDHS were impressed when they learned Garduno jogged about five miles to and from his home on Arnold Road to attend summer workouts for football as a freshman. That's because he didn't have a ride to the school since his dad had to be at work early in the morning.</p><p>“I started thinking why feel sorry for myself because I don't have a ride,” he recalled. “There is no point in that. I just decided that if I really was determined to be here I would be here.”</p><p>As Garduno would do what he now calls a “pre-workout” to NDHS, he thought of the person he wanted to be and how he saw himself in the future. About a month into summer workouts, Keena Arrowood, a Spanish teacher at the high school, discovered Garduno's method in going to and from the school. She and others began giving him rides to the workouts.</p><p>“I can't say I had money to give them for gas, but I really appreciated them taking me home,” he said.</p><p>Once Garduno arrived at the workouts, he remembers being “determined to train to be just as good as anyone else,” he said.</p><p>“I didn't care if people saw me run or not,” Garduno said. “I wasn't embarrassed to be running by McDonald's watching people go by. I had a mind-set goal that I was going to get here in time. I was going to work out, and I was going to go home. It was just something I looked forward to every time. I got up (earlier) than I normally would and started heading down the road.”</p><p>His desire not to let anything get in his way from attending the workouts would come to the attention of his coaches.</p><p>“They are like, 'Wow, you had the endurance to do that,'” Garduno remembered. “It's like I didn't want any attention from it. It's just something I wanted to do for myself.”</p><p>And Garduno's work ethic earned him a spot on the varsity team as a sophomore. The strong safety/inside linebacker was named on the all-Central Piedmont Conference football team, and he landed a part-time job in Lexington to help fix his uncle's car to be able to drive himself his junior year to summer workouts and practice.</p><p>“I realized that there would be kids who didn't have a ride, and I would take them home because I knew the feeling and knew what I had to go through,” he said. “… I didn't want any other teammate of mine to do that, so I would be generous and give them a ride.”</p><p>But his football career was sidelined his senior year. Garduno broke his right ankle during the second practice of the 2012 season. He recalled going up to intercept a pass, and a teammate shoved him to stop the interception. Garduno landed with his toes down, and his whole ankle turned behind him.</p><p>“The injury itself didn't hurt me,” he said. “Knowing I wasn't going to be able to play football my senior year is really what killed me inside. When my doctor told me, 'You are going to have surgery and this might be it for you,' I busted out in tears and couldn't hold it back.”</p><p>Garduno used a stretching band to try to get the ankle better as he was trying to rejoin the team his senior year. He battled back to be at about 80 percent when he got in for the last two plays of the season-ending playoff game.</p><p>“It was probably the toughest thing I had these past four years,” Garduno said, referring to being sidelined by his injury. “I coped with it with my teammates. When we won the CPC championship, they picked me up on (their) shoulders and told me they did it for me.”</p><p>Garduno plans to major in sports science and wants to be a physical therapist at Appalachian State University.</p><p>“I actually decided to do that this past year with my ankle injury that took me out the whole season,” he said of his desire to be a physical therapist. “It's just something I got really interested in.”</p><p>To Garduno's surprise, faculty at NDHS presented him with a Citizenship Award at senior awards day. The award recognized Garduno's desire to help people. He said he “felt honored everyone thinks so highly of him.”</p><p>Darrick Ignasiak can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 217, or at darrick.ignasiak@the-dispatch.com.</p>